In the third and last meeting between the two sides for 1884, their traditional four matches having been reduced to three, it was the proverbial game of two halves with Carlton kicking with an extremely strong breeze in front of one of the smallest turnouts ever for a match between the two old rivals.

From the first kick-off the wind played havoc, taking the ball over to the pavilion side of the ground where it stayed for some time. The first goal came when the ball bounced over a Melbourne's defender's head and rolled through, and they weren't done there. For 15 minutes the ball stayed in front of the Melbourne goal and Carlton registered four behinds before finally adding to their score.

They got a third goal and continued to pepper the sticks, beating back a brief invasion by Melbourne into their territory, and registering four goals from 19 scoring shots.

With the wind in their favour Melbourne turned the tables on Carlton, attacking furiously in the second half. The Blues did have chances but they were quickly repelled by Melbourne's defenders who were now able to clear the ball with the aid of the wind instead of kicking directly into it.

Eventually Propsting got Melbourne's first goal, with a wind assisted kick from more than 50 yards out and after sustained pressure where they kicked a number of behinds McAlister managed a second goal. Cussen kicked what appeared to be the third from a free kick but it was disallowed by the umpire as it had been touched. Nevertheless McGregor got the official third goal not long after.

With the margin back to one goal Carlton launched an attack and could have had a sealer, but despite missing some easy shots they'd done enough to keep Melbourne out.

Best were Propsting, Franks and Aitken.

NotesSome sources have the crowd as low as 300. Sportsman reports 'a few hundred'.